The present invention relates generally to a body brace and, more particularly, to a soft body brace.
Body braces are well known in the art and have been used in the past for correcting various abnormalities or deformaties of the spine and/or for providing support.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,367 to M. E. Miller there is disclosed a body brace which is constructed to be used for corrective purposes. The brace comprises an outer layer of a hard substantially rigid plastic material and an inner layer of soft compressible plastic material, with the inner layer being bonded to the outer layer. The brace is shaped to engage a person's pelvis and includes an anterior portion, a vertically split posterior portion, releasable fastening means secured to the adjacent posterior portions to aid in securing the brace to a wearer, and inwardly curved sections in both layers of the brace for engaging the iliac crests of the wearer, the inwardly curved sections having appreciably thicker compressible inner layers thereon. The brace has become known in the field as the Boston Body Brace.
Another known type of body brace constructed to be used for corrective purposes comprises a shell which is sized and configured so as to circumscribe the trunk of the body and having a vertical length so as to extend at the posterior side from approximately the sacrum to approximately the eighth dorsal and at the anterior side from approximately the pubic region to approximately the upper limit of the diaphram, the shell being comprised of a flexible sheet of hard substantially rigid plastic material structured to provide a girdle having a continuous posterior side, overlapping anterior sides and lateral sides, the lateral sides containing indentations commencing at the posterior side extending forwardly therefrom and terminating at the anterior side and embodying laterally divergent portions above and below the indentations dimensioned to receive, respectively, the lower part of the rib cage and the upper part of the pelvis, transversely-spaced, vertically disposed parallel stays fixed to the girdle at substantially equal distances from the ends of the overlapping anterior sides and cinches connected to the respective stays adjustable to constrain the girdle about the body. The device is referred to in the field as the Boston Overlap Brace.
Both of the above described braces are classified as hard body braces in that they contain at least one layer of a hard substantially rigid material.
In my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 508,199 filed on Apr. 11, 1990 there is disclosed a body brace which is constructed to be used for providing support for certain types of patients. The brace is intended to be used, for example, by the muscular dystrophy patient whose progressive muscular atrophy leaves little strength for breathing and little tissue to cover bony areas, or by the severe scoliotic patient whose breathing is already compromised by a malaligned anatomy and support is indicated to relieve internal pressures, or by the insensate patient, such as the myelomeningocele, where unfelt pressure is a risk or by the cerebral palsy patient whose involuntary spasticity can be of great discomfort within a completely rigid brace.
Briefly, the body brace described in the above noted pending application serial number comprises a shell having an outer layer of a soft compressible plastic material and an inner layer of soft compressible plastic material, with the inner layer being bonded to the outer layer. The brace is shaped to circumscribe the person's torso and includes posterior and anterior portions, one of the two portions being vertically split. Releasable fasteners are secured to the split portion to aid in securing the brace on the wearer. Inwardly curved pads are fixedly sandwiched between the two layers of soft compressible plastic material for engaging the iliac crests of the wearer. The brace further includes a plurality of reinforcing stays for maintaining the brace in its intended shape. The reinforcing stays are made of plastic and are fixedly sandwiched between the two layers of soft compressible plastic material, are transversely spaced from each other and are vertically oriented.
The body brace described in the above noted pending patent application is a soft type of body brace in that the inner and outer layers making up the shell are both made of soft compressible material.
The body brace in the above noted pending patent application may be fabricated in the following manner. Using measurements of the patient taken by an orthotist or a cast corresponding to the shape of the patient which may be made by the orthotist, the manufacturer selects from a group of molds on hand a mold that most nearly approximates the size and shape of the patient. The manufacturer then adds plaster to the mold where needed so as to make the mold conform as closely as possible to the exact shape of the patient. The brace is then formed on the modified mold by first pulling the inner layer, then attaching the crest pads and reinforcing stays to the inner layer, bending the stays where necessary to conform to the shape of the modified mold, then forming the outer layer, over the inner layer, crest pads and stays and then attaching the releasable fasteners. The brace is then trimmed by the orthotist, as needed, to conform to the size of the wearer.
One of the problems with the above described body brace as so manufactured and then assembled is that the orthotist can trim the brace received from the manufacturer to conform to the size of the wearer but cannot make any fine adjustments in the shape of the brace if such adjustments are needed in order to conform more closely to the exact shape of the wearer. More specifically, once the brace has been fabricated the two layers of soft compressible material cannot be reshaped and the reinforcing stays cannot be bent additionally or to a lesser degree, in order to conform more closely to the shape of the wearer. Another problem with the above described soft body brace as so fabricated is that it is time consuming for the orthotist to take measurements or make a cast, send the measurements or the cast to the manufacturer who is usually not close by, wait for the brace to be made and shipped to him and then trim the brace to accommodate the wearer.
As can be appreciated, it would be very beneficial if the orthotist could have a body brace which could be customized on site to the particular shape as well as the size of the wearer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved body brace.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improved soft body brace.
It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved method of making a soft body brace.
It is still another object of this invention to provide an unfinished soft body brace which can be easily finished to provide a soft body brace customized to the size and shape of the intended wearer.
It is yet still another object of this invention to provide a method of making an unfinished soft body brace which can then be finished to make a soft body brace customized to the size and shape of the intended wearer.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an unfinished soft body brace which can be customized on site to make a finished soft body brace.
It is still a further object of this invention to provide a soft body brace which can be customized to meet the specific shape of the intended wearer without having to first take extensive measurements and without having to first make a cast of the wearer.
It is yet still a further object of this invention to provide a soft body brace which is easy to manufacture and effective when being worn.